Health headlines: August 2025

The latest in medical and wellness news you need to know.

Author

Umayya Theba
August 30, 2025

Sugary drinks increase hair loss risk, but these nutrients can help

Maintaining healthy hair goes beyond a good hair cut or buying the latest products. According to new research, hair health begins with a nutritious diet. A review published on August 21 in Nutrition and Health suggests that what you eat can affect hair growth, strength, and even hair loss.

The analysis shows that sugar-sweetened beverages and alcoholic drinks were associated with a higher risk of hair loss, but also indicates that certain nutrients can promote healthy hair.

Trouble sleeping? The culprit may be something you ate

Researchers say the reason – and the solution – could be lurking in your kitchen. The ingredients for poor sleep can be found in every meal, and the less you sleep, the more likely you may be to consume them.

Average sleep duration has been shrinking over the past several decades, concurrent with the rise in obesity and diabetes. This led to an investigation into how diet and meal composition might be affecting sleep, with particular interest in the role carbohydrates, which affect blood glucose levels, might play.

Ultra-processed foods found to harm reproductive health

A controlled dietary intervention has shown that ultra-processed foods may harm cardiometabolic and reproductive health, even when consumed in quantities matched to unprocessed diets. The human study found participants gained fat mass and showed altered hormone levels after just three weeks of eating ultra-processed foods, pointing to the processing methods themselves as a key factor in driving these changes.

Potassium-rich diet may cut risk of heart failure by 24%, study suggests

Eating foods rich in potassium, such as avocados, bananas and spinach, could reduce your risk of heart conditions, hospitalisation and death by 24%, a study suggests.

Previous research has shown that cutting out salt from meals can slash your risk of heart problems. Potassium increases the amount of salt your body removes from the bloodstream.

Plant-based diet protects against multiple chronic illnesses

Shifting to a plant-based diet can help keep people from being plagued by multiple health problems as they age, a new study says.

People whose diets included more veggies, fruits, whole grains, legumes and plant-based foods had 32% lower odds of developing two or more chronic illnesses, researchers report in The Lancet Healthy Longevity.

Specifically, people who adhered more strongly to a healthy plant-based diet had a lower risk of cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, researchers said.